TresSugar

Doctored McCain Atlantic Cover Shots: Who's to Blame?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:00:35 -0700

John McCain's turn as cover model for this month's issue of the Atlantic has raised hackles, eyebrows, and now the necessity for apology from the editor of the magazine, which ran the pic. The editor says he's sending an apology to the Senator after outtake pictures by the photographer Jill Greenberg wound up on her personal website, edited for horrific effect. As of this writing, Greenberg was still featuring the doctored photos on her blog, including one backlit image showing a sinister McCain with the words, "I'll have my girl kill Roe v. Wade" printed atop.

The Atlantic editor's apology for the subsequent fallout says:

When we contract with photographers for portraits, we don't vet them for their politics-instead, we assess their professional track records. We had never worked with Jill Greenberg before (and, obviously, we will not work with her again). Based on the portraits she had done of politicians like Arnold Schwarzenegger and her work for publications like Time, Wired, and Portfolio, we expected her, like the other photographers we work with, to behave professionally. Jill Greenberg has obviously not done that. She has, in fact, disgraced herself, and we are appalled by the manipulated images she has created for her Web site of John McCain.

The Atlantic might go further than the strongly worded indictment of the photographer, and sue. Is that the appropriate response?

Which Magazine Will Tell You Everything You Need to Know?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:00:11 -0700

Or pretty darn close anyway. If you only buy one magazine this month, I've got the answer to, "Hey Citizen! Which one?!"

One of these mags features the following:

An article on the schism over homosexuality in the Anglican church, known as "the greatest crisis the modern Protestant community has faced," featuring Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Christian bishop including the trial he faced coming to terms with his sexuality, getting married and then finding himself. It ends, "It's when I let God love me that I remember who I am," and includes all the major players in the controversy.

A whole picture article with charts about who the major players are reading to follow the election, showcasing "smartest reads on the web," and how one liberal media member prefers to read right-leaning news.
A piece entitled "You Can't Save the Planet" which has an amazing chart to help nail down fact from fiction in claims about CFL light bulbs and solar power.
And a stark trip inside the Landsthul Germany hospital where every wounded US soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan is brought for treatment.

Curious? To see which one, read more.

I know, right?! I was so enthralled by the grimy gym copy, I hopped out and bought my own. Somehow it's trying to go live in the bathroom, but ew. That's what boys do.

Check it out.

Britney Spears on the Cover of The Atlantic?

LibertySugar — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:12:50 -0800

So Citizen and I just got our copy of The Atlantic delivered to Sugar HQ. But before we could crack it open, Pop stole it from our confused hands. I can see why they were so desperate to get at it. What in the world is Britney Spears doing on the cover of The Atlantic?!

The cover is to allegedly support a piece on paparazzi agency X17, but with the accompanying cover stories being "The Case For Polarization," and "Calcutta Rising," and "A Uranium Smuggler's Story" one has to wonder if including the former Mouseketeer's image in lieu of their usual map-collage-of-countries-in-strife pic, they might be branching out, ahem, content-wise? Or maybe it's just a very skillful parody? One wonders.

Now of course the question begs to be asked: Is Andrew Sullivan behind this somehow?

What do you think? Hottest selling issue of The Atlantic ever, or biggest sellout of the century?

On the Newsstand: Iraq Could Poison American Politics For a Generation

LibertySugar — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:03:36 -0800

The biggest challenge facing the next president is not leaving Iraq, but keeping America in one piece on the way out. A recent issue of The Atlantic explains that Iraq is the most partisan US war in history. Unlike Vietnam, which divided Americans within the parties, the differences between Republicans and Democrats reached as high as 60 percentage points.

The article warns that a party-line retreat will tear the country apart. Many Republicans think Democrats are intentionally undermining the war effort to improve their political prospects. This understanding could lead to the narrative of betrayal - the "we never really lost" or "some of us defeated the rest" narrative.

So how do we protect the soul of the country? To find out, read more. The article offers a few scenarios - everyone is fed up and a withdrawal is uncontroversial; the Republicans win the White House, the Democrats win Congress and the parties work together. But, if the Democrats win control of both branches, they must make a decision: withdraw immediately on party-line Congressional votes, or more slowly at a pace that commands support among Republicans.

A middle-ground plan is necessary. It could guarantee a reduction in troops each year, but allow for a flexible pace of withdrawal that would be faster than Bush preferred, but slower than the liberal base demands. If the Democrats rush to exit against a unified, yet powerless, Republican party, they will be blamed for whatever disasters followed in Iraq, or the entire Middle East. Check out the original article, which offers such wise advice.

The Friendly Skies, Indeed!

GiggleSugar — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0800

Oh, wait. Wrong tagline. What makes a relationship fly? A little more space, and a lot less drool, according to Virgin Atlantic. Awww, and I wanted this relationship to work out!

A Match Made In The Sky?

GiggleSugar — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:00:00 -0800

What makes a relationship fly? A little more space, and a lot less drool- according to Virgin Atlantic. Thanks, Swwonder, for the find!

Say What? Director Mira Nair on Amelia Earhart

TresSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

"[S]o much about Amelia is so undeniably modern. If she were to walk into a room today in her jodhpurs and her aviation jackets, [with] her ideas about marriage or men and women, she would still be considered an iconoclast."

- Director Mira Nair on the subject of her upcoming biopic Amelia starring Hilary Swank, about the pioneering aviator's life. Nair, who directed Salaam, Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding, and the recent I Love You, New York was taken with Amelia's plainspoken directness when she studied archival footage of her. Earhart was the first aviatrix (I love that word!) to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She insisted on keeping her name when she married and called marriage a "partnership" with "dual control."

Do, Dump, or Marry? Adam Lambert

TresSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

I was dragged kicking and screaming to the Atlantic City leg of the American Idols tour over the summer, but once Adam Lambert started singing, I stopped complaining. Elvis by way of David Bowie for the 20-something set, Lambert is the real deal. This guy was smokin' - as a singer, an entertainer, and as a sex symbol.

Adam described his shoot for Details magazine as "heterosexual," and with all the sexy Adam-on-girl poses, I see what he means. "I am gay," he says, "but I like kissing women sometimes. Women are pretty. It doesn't mean I'm necessarily sleeping with them."

Since we all have about as much chance of sleeping with Cristiano Ronaldo or Clive Owen, why not play this game with Adam?

Website du Jour: I Just Made Love

TresSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0700

In a convoluted world of oversharing, a new website is trying to streamline the process of revealing the details of your sex life to the world. Using Google Maps, IJustMadeLove.com lets users pinpoint the exact location where they've had sex. In addition to location, users can offer other details including positions used (although the list of possible positions is far from complete) and whether the love was made inside or outside. If you're more a voyeur than an exhibitionist, you can use the site to find out way too much about people's sexual habits. For example, the site reveals that more people than you would think have had sex in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! Happy snooping . . . or sharing!

Say What? Superstar Goalie Hope Solo Doesn't Like Pink

TresSugar — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0700

"They go and make this padded goal-keeper jersey and it's hot pink - it just looks girly, it looks juvenile, it doesn't look professional. And so I said, 'There's no way in hell I'm wearing this.'"

- Hope Solo, goalie for the St. Louis Athletica, quoted in The Atlantic magazine's September issue about her reaction to the uniforms Puma designed for the league's seven teams. Both beloved and reviled for her cocky ways, Solo, considered by some to be the best goalkeeper in the world, is getting endorsement deals from VitaminWater and Nike. The self-described "loudmouth goalkeeper" is shown here in Beijing after winning the Women's Football Gold Medal match between Brazil and the US in August. Many were not amused by her victory dance around the field wearing a fake gold medal dangling from her neck.